House the homeless in the Wapato jail? A truly terrible idea.

On the surface housing the homeless in Wapato may seem like a good idea to the Pamplin Media Group.* It isn't. In fact it's a terrible idea discarded along with many other bad ideas for Wapato use by Multnomah county commissioners years ago.

The homeless are not criminals and cannot be locked up to keep them out of sight. They would be free to come and go, wandering around North Portland as they pleased.

The current and previous mayors of Portland have long targeted North Portland aka House District 44 as a dumping ground for Public/Regulated Affordable/Low-Income/Publicly Subsided Affordable Housing which equals Means Tests + Government Subsidy + Rental Agreement. The homeless citizens of Multnomah county fall into this category. North Portland/House District 44 has the highest concentration of Public/Regulated Affordable/Low-Income/Publicly Subsided Affordable Housing of any House district in the state of Oregon (with support from its state representative Tina Kotek, state senator Chip Shields and North Portland Multnomah county commissioner Loretta Smith). And now the Pamplin Media Group proposes an increase to that indefensible number. If the homeless housed at Wapato started roaming around Pamplin's pride in North Portland, the University of Portland, you can be sure that Portland Tribune editorial support would abruptly change direction.

Why is Amanda Fritz in the center of a major Public/Regulated Affordable/Low-Income/Publicly Subsided Affordable Housing dilemma? Where is mayor Hales, the ONLY elected official to have the singular statutory authority to control Public/Regulated Affordable/Low-Income/Publicly Subsided Affordable Housing policy in Multnomah county? This is HIS problem.

This would be an excellent time to expose, discuss and debate our city's discredited and abhorrent policy of Targeted, UNLIMITED Neighborhood Concentration of Public/Regulated Affordable/Low-Income/Publicly Subsided Affordable Housing particularly how its budget is allocated throughout our city and, indeed, Multnomah county. Wouldn't you agree Portland Tribune?

This would be an excellent time to expose, discuss and debate mayor Hales' REFUSAL to allow elected officials, candidates for public office, neighborhood leaders, the press (including the Portland Tribune) and citizens access to Public/Regulated Affordable/Low-Income/Publicly Subsided Affordable Housing Statistical Data. Wouldn't you agree Portland Tribune?

Mayor Hales, who has the singular statutory authority to control Public/Regulated Affordable/Low-Income/Publicly Subsided Affordable Housing in Multnomah county, has quietly authorized commissioner Amanda Fritz to expand HIS no housing data to the public policy by concealing the details of this Public/Regulated Affordable/Low-Income/Publicly Subsided Affordable Housing homeless drama deal currently playing out in the Peal District.

At the end of the day ALL housing policy in Multnomah county is in the hands of Portland's mayor Hales. HE is the decision maker. HE must be held accountable. Wouldn't you agree Portland Tribune?